Over the years, this blog has been about many different things related to software development with Microsoft technologies. Since my current role focuses on Dynamics CRM Online, that's what it's primarily about right now.

Year: 2012

Full disclosure, I received a free license from the authors of the tool. However, I do believe it’s definitely worth the license fee. I’ve blogged previously about reasons for my fondness of the www.crmsolutionmanager.com addin to Visual Studio for Dynamics CRM 2011 development. Well they’ve recently introduced some new features that I think make it…

UPDATE: The Dynamics CRM in the Field blog just published a useful post on Script Errors after Installing UR12. The next update to CRM 2011 introduces an expanded range of supported browsers. You can learn more about the upcoming release here: http://crm.dynamics.com/en-us/Polaris http://crmpublish.blob.core.windows.net/docs/Release_Preview_Guide_December_2012_FINAL.pdf Ahead of the release, the latest version of the CRM SDK has guidance…

UPDATE: Now that Polaris/UR12 are out, the new bulk API is available. Check out Sonoma Partners blog post on a simple benchmark of the improvements. Now you can Combine the ne bulk API with client side parallelism to achieve even better performance. I’ll put that on my ever growing “to blog” list. However, if you followed this…

I recently discovered that the LINQPad Plugin for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 doesn’t support authenticating using Office 365 credentials. According to commenter EdWells, you can copy the latest version of crmsvcutil.exe and microsoft.xrm.sdk.dll over the version that ships with the LINQPad plugin as a workaround. However, this didn’t work for me. Have no fear, LINQPad…

UPDATE (18APR2013): Updated AuthenticateAsync() extension method to handle both IFD and CRM Online authentication. Now, the code in HelloCRM will work regardless of whether you point it to an IFD or CRM Online Organization Service. All you have to do is pass in the appropriate username/password combo to AuthenticateAsync(). Quick link to updated code: http://sdrv.ms/Qy0Wcv….

One of the keys to being a more productive CRM developer is knowing what community tools are out there. Sometimes, as soon as you think you have a favorite tool, you find another one that makes you smile. Hopefully, I’m helping create one of those moments for you. I’ve blogged about CRM Solution Manager before. …

SnapShot! for Dynamics CRM – http://www.crmaccelerators.net/products/snapshot-for-dynamics-crm …extracts and consolidates the following components: System Settings Entities Fields Relationships Views Forms Option Sets Field Security Security Roles Solutions Web Resources Plugins Processes Templates Business units Users Teams Queues I’ve had customers ask for something like this many times! Good to know I have an answer for them…

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last year applying my general application development experience to the world of Dynamics CRM customizations (aka XRM). Often, I take part in conversations that go something like “Why is X harder to do when customizing Dynamics CRM compared to general .NET web development?” I usually respond with…

UPDATE: Fixed the video resolution issue. Higher resolution (720p) version is available. After writing my post on unit testing plugins, I’ve been asked a few times about how to do the same for Dynamics CRM 2011 JavaScript web resources. While I knew it could be done, truth be told, I had never done any significant…

UPDATE: If you missed the webcast, you can watch the recording via the details link below. Team development for Dynamics CRM 2011 customizations is a topic I get into often with customers and partners. The best, most comprehensive session I have seen on team development with Dynamics CRM 2011 was delivered by Shan McArthur (blog,…